Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have to take the Minister up again on the question of global warming. In yesterday's committee debate on land usage, there was a real contradiction in what the committee was being told by the Department. On the one hand, there is this ambition to adhere to the EU regulations on land usage and to use it better for absorbing carbon, and on the other hand, there is great excitement when it comes to CETA or trade deals with Egypt, for example, for live cattle. How do we get live cattle reared in Ireland on to boats to transport them to Canada or Egypt? We have to produce and grow them here. That leads to a huge increase in methane, which is one of the problems we have. I am told that the average farm has 16 cattle. That gives an indication of the size of the big ones. When one looks at the graph, there are a huge number of ranchers in Leinster and Munster producing incredible amounts of beef. That has an impact on the climate. This is what I mean about the contradiction. On the one hand, we are saying that we are doing something and, on the other hand, we are increasing agricultural beef production. There is no joined-up thinking-----

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